Remembering those who have served for Memorial Day

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We have a long weekend coming up! But why do we celebrate Memorial Day? This is a special day to remember those who have died while serving in the United States’ armed forces. Below, we’ve included a lesson that teachers K-2 students why we celebrate Memorial Day, and also a Rank & Reason activity where students will learn about different wars and rank/discuss which was the most destructive.

Memorial-Day-Dog-Tags

Memorial Day Dog Tags
ELA; Grades K-2

In this activity, students will learn about why we celebrate Memorial Day. Students will discuss their ideas and watch videos, then use their knowledge to create a piece of writing about Memorial Day represented as military ID tags.

Destructive-Wars Destructive Wars
ELA, Social Studies; Grades 7-12

World War 2? The American Civil War? Vietnam? Use this critical thinking lesson to reflect on the impacts of war. Through our Rank and Reason Tool students will discuss the wars of the past and reason which event they believe caused the most destruction and the lesson to be learned.

This week was also National Police Week, and on Monday, President Obama awarded 13 law enforcement officers with the Medal of Valor – the nation’s highest honor for law enforcement. Teach your students more about a day in the life of police officers, and have them become special agents themselves – triangulating cell phone data to determine the location of phone calls.

A-day-in-life-of... A Day in the Life Of…
Math; Grade 3

As a TV journalist, students will use facts about the careers of civil servants, athletes, and other professionals to craft a TV segment about an ordinary day in the life of these jobs. Practice fractions and telling time as you learn about the work and activity that occupies a fireman, policeman or NBA Player’s day.

Untitled-2 Cell Phone Triangulation
Math; Grades 10-12

Thousands of criminal cases have been aided by forensic cell phone evidence, so examine phone records and triangulate the location of cell phones using the Law of Sines and Cosines. Analyze the activity of 4 suspects and use arithmetic findings to determine the true culprit.